FMA Prompts
by luvsanime02
Summary: A collection of short prompts for Fullmetal Alchemist that I decided to expand a little.
1. Chance

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated K for everyone to enjoy! This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Chance **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 2 and 4 on a speed date (Alphonse Elric and Riza Hawkeye).

"Are you even legally old enough to be here?" Riza asked in some surprise.

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Riza Hawkeye's (soon to be ex) best friend had high-jacked her Friday night and set her up as a participant in a speed dating event. She wished they served alcohol. To her right, Rebecca was laughing at the man who'd been sitting in front of her thirty seconds ago. What her friend had found to laugh about, Riza didn't know, because when he'd sat in front of her the only thing he'd managed to ramble on about was his new speedboat.

"Lighten up," Rebecca hissed to her while the men were changing seats. "Stop giving them all the scary poker face."

Inwardly, Riza sighed, but did not change her facial expression from 'unimpressed.' It was her only form of protest for being dragged to this event in the first place. The whole idea of meeting someone worthwhile in thirty seconds was dubious at best.

Just as she was wondering how much of a fuss it'd be for her to get up and walk out now, what looked like a very young man sat down in front of her.

"Are you even legally old enough to be here?" Riza asked in some surprise, not giving him a chance to speak first.

The boy (for surely, he had to be a boy still) smiled sheepishly at her. It was a nice enough smile, genuine, and it lit up his eyes. "Just barely," he admitted. "My older brother signed me up for this. Apparently, I'm 'too young to be spending my weekends curled up on the couch with the cats.'"

Riza smiled at that. She could understand how uniquely annoying older brothers often were.

The timer dinged, and they both started in shock.

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed softly. "Um, I'm sorry for not introducing myself properly, but I did have a nice time chatting with you. Excuse me."

He was oddly polite for someone of his age, and when he stood up she saw that he was wearing corduroys and a sensible button-down under a sweater vest. Watching him out of the corner of her eye while she ignored the next man to sit down in front of her, she instead paid attention to his introduction to Rebecca. His name was Alphonse and he studied advanced aerodynamics, which made her raise an eyebrow in reluctant admiration.

Riza sat through three more introductions before she abruptly realized that she was ignoring the 'dates' in front of her for an entirely different reason now. She glanced down at the sheet in front of her that contained the men's names and contact information, and found her gaze resting on 'Alphonse Elric.'

This was ridiculous. By his own admission, Alphonse was barely eighteen, and she was a grown woman of thirty-one, firmly settled into her career and with no time or energy after work to expend on dating someone so young. He probably went out clubbing every other night, and stayed up all hours getting drunk, like every other young man his age. He-

Apparently, Alphonse spent so much time home alone on the couch with his cats that his older brother took a chance and set him up for a speed dating event in the hopes of him meeting someone.

Maybe it was time for Riza to take a chance too. She found herself smiling, just a little, as she entered Alphonse's number into her cell.

She'd call him later.


	2. Down the Rabbit Hole

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated T for language. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Down the Rabbit Hole **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 1 and 3 find what they think might honestly be a dimensional portal (Edward Elric and Roy Mustang).

"You're _not _jumping through to see what happens, Fullmetal," Roy preempts.

"Wuss," Ed responds, scoffing.

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It was just… there. Ed blinked and tilted his head to one side. Then, he squinted. He walked backwards a couple of feet and then walked back, watching the area closely, and then moved around to the side. Nothing.

Edward Elric was an alchemical genius, but he really couldn't figure out where this sudden phenomenon had come from, or even what it was exactly.

He walked back to Colonel Mustang, who'd been standing still and silently watching (judging) his progress. They stood side by side and just stared in silence for a few minutes.

Maybe Ed could-

"You're _not _jumping through to see what happens, Fullmetal," Mustang preempted.

"Wuss," Ed responded, scoffing.

The colonel frowned. "It has nothing to do with timidity, as you well know. Who says you could even walk through it? Or walk _back _through it, which is rather the more pressing concern."

Ed rolled his eyes, but admitted to himself that Mustang was right. He frowned at the space in front of them that was no more than eight feet tall and four feet wide, a rectangle of space that led… somewhere that wasn't here. The difference was easy to see, actually. Where Ed and Colonel Mustang were standing, it was mid-July and quite humid out. Even the grass was wilting under the heat beating down on them from the sun's rays.

On the other side of whatever the fuck Ed was looking at, he could see a strong breeze blowing approximately two feet of snow around. His mind automatically catalogued that no flakes were appearing over where the two of them were standing either.

After a few more seconds of thought, Ed wordlessly reached over and tugged on the braiding of Mustang's jacket.

The man blinked down at him in annoyance. "What are you doing?"

Ed fought not to roll his eyes. "Take this stupid thing off," he complained. "I want to try something."

Mustang sighed, but did as requested and handed off the yellow rope to him. Ed walked a little bit away and then found a small rock. He tied the rope around it, walked back, and threw it through to where it was snowing.

They both watched it land.

Ed waited a moment, just to be a shit, and then slowly pulled it back through to their side. Everything sort of rippled in Ed's vision for a second, and it made a headache start up behind his eyes, but then the rock came trailing back to them limply.

Mustang reached down and picked it up, tossing it into the air and then turning it over. He was checking for object density, Ed assumed.

"So," he said into the silence, "can I go through _now_?"

"No," Mustang responded absently. Ed opened his mouth to protest but closed it when he saw Mustang frowning thoughtfully. "Not yet, at least. We need to assemble a team first."

Ed wanted to scowl at that 'we,' but he was too busy staring at the snow whipping in the wind a few feet away. "Cool."


	3. First Impressions

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated T for language and implied situations. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**First Impressions **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 8 and 2 meet on a date with 1 and 9 (Izumi Curtis and Alphonse Elric meet while on dates with Edward Elric and Van Hohenheim).

"…What the fuck is going on?" Ed asked faintly.

Al looked at Brother's date apologetically.

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Ed was a little uncomfortable about this first date. Not because he was ashamed of dating an older woman. Izumi Curtis wasn't someone you could ever be ashamed of. No, it was just that Ed wanted this date to work out so much that he was constantly second-guessing everything.

Finally, though, he'd decided on a small restaurant that Ed knew from previous visits had damn good food. Nothing made a better first impression, in his opinion, than a date who knew where to eat.

The last thing Ed had expected to see when they walked through the door was his dad and younger brother sitting at a table together.

Almost, he called out to them, simply surprised that they'd chosen to eat here tonight too. But then Ed noticed the small table they were sitting at, even though there was plenty of available seating elsewhere. His mind catalogued in disbelief how closely they were sitting, their heads bent together, and then he remembered that Alphonse had told Ed that he was going out on a date tonight.

As if feeling his stupefied gaze, his little brother looked up and noticed Ed and Izumi still standing near the doorway. Al froze, staring blankly back into Ed's eyes. After a moment, Ed's dad, Hohenheim, looked over too.

"…What the fuck is going on?" Ed asked faintly, into the silence.

Al first looked apologetically at Izumi, and Ed almost rolled his eyes. Al would be worried about a relative stranger in a situation like this. Their dad was quiet, but Ed could see guilt emerging in his gaze. Suddenly, Ed felt his shock turning to anger. What the hell did their dad think he was doing to Ed's little brother?

He started stalking forward, intending to pick his dad up by his coat and strangle the life out of him, but then Ed felt a tug on his shoulder at the last second. He paused, and looked over at Izumi, who Ed hadn't been able to bring himself to glance at ever since he discovered his brother and dad out on a date together.

"Edward," Izumi said, calmly, "why don't you introduce me to your family?"

Ed paused, meeting her gaze in surprise. He'd admired for months her ability to let nothing phase her, but even so, Ed would have thought even she wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of something like this.

"You sure?" he asked her, calmer now. She smiled grimly and then walked over to the table herself first, leaving Ed to catch up.

"Good evening," she greeted, evenly. "I assume you're Edward's family? It's nice to meet you."

Al blinked once, and then seemed to start in place. "Ah! No, um, it's nice to meet you too," he said awkwardly. "I'm Alphonse." He stood up to shake Izumi's hand, and Ed took that opportunity to sidle up next to his dad.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low and vicious.

His dad looked up at him, and Ed couldn't believe it but he thought he saw a glint of amusement in the older man's eyes. What the fuck? "Trying to enjoy our date," his dad answered, just as quiet.

Ed glared into his dad's eyes, the same color as his own, as Al's, and saw underneath the attempt at normalcy that his dad was nervous. He also looked coolly determined. It was the same look that Al got when he was serious about something.

"Brother," Al interjected. Ed reluctantly turned his head to acknowledge him. "I'm really sorry you had to find out like this, but… Can we talk everything over later? Why don't you two sit down? We haven't ordered our food yet. Dad and I could get to know Izumi."

Ed twitched, and glanced at Izumi, silently asking her if she was okay with that plan. In answer, she grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down. He sighed, then found a chair of his own, not saying anything about how squished they all were now at the small table meant for two.

"We're going to discuss this later," Ed said firmly, in case anyone here thought that him sitting down was a sort of tacit approval.

"Of course, Brother," Al agreed, his voice just as unyielding.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Ed's dad cleared his throat nervously. "The salmon is particularly good here," he said, finally, to Izumi.

Her gaze was distantly polite. "Is it?" she replied, noncommittally.

So much for that good first impression. But it looked like Izumi was staying anyway. At this point, Ed would take what he could get.


	4. Genetics

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated T for language. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Genetics **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 9 and 1 battle each other on DDR (Van Hohenheim and Edward Elric).

"How are you so good at this?" Edward demands disbelievingly.

"Am I?" he asks mildly.

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"How are you so good at this?" Ed demands disbelievingly.

"Am I?" his dad asks mildly.

"You're beating all of the high scores!" Ed exclaims in outrage. He's trying both to not fall over and to stare at his dad in complete incredulity as the man hits the combos _every fucking time._

"Really?" Alphonse asks from somewhere at the front of the crowd of spectators where he'd just reappeared, probably a little worried by now at the lack of yelling coming from this area of the arcade. "That's very good, isn't it?"

He says this in the _exact same tone _that their dad was just using, and that's when Ed knows for sure that they're both bullshitting him. Without looking to the side, not wanting to just give up despite the fact that he has literally no chance of winning, Ed flips his younger brother off casually.

"I'm over here, Brother," Al remarks innocently, like the little shit hadn't moved at the last second just so he could say that. Ed is not falling for that tone. He knows better.

"I, however, wouldn't mind a date," a new voice speaks up merrily, and this time Ed does look, whips his head around before he can think not to.

A _very _hot guy is standing where Ed had directed his quite sophisticated sign language earlier, watching Ed with a speculative look in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

Ed's eyes narrow. Holy shit, the guy's actually serious, Ed can tell. His face has taken on an expectant look now that he sees that he has Ed's attention.

"You always hit on people who are getting their asses kicked at DDR by their old man?" he asks, falsely nonchalant.

"Oh, dear," Alphonse sighs. Ed ignores him. His track record isn't _that _bad, thanks.

(Except it kind of is, but Ed is going to ignore that too.)

The Really Hot Guy laughs, and Ed finally gives up his lost cause and steps down to let his dad finish out the song perfectly, to much applause.

Besides, he might have just won something much better.

"Only if they look stunningly attractive while losing," RHG rejoins, and Ed has to bite down on the grin that wants to break free and raises an eyebrow skeptically instead.

"That still leaves me with the impression that you stalk arcades and hit on the kids there," he says cheekily, just to see how RHG will react.

This time Ed ignores with the ease of long practice both his dad's long-suffering sigh and his younger brother's muffled snort.

"Ah, and here I thought my secret was safe," the guy laments, and holy crap but his eyes are fucking gleaming under the crappy lighting at their verbal sparring. Ed is ready to go on that date right this second so that they can make out tons.

"Ed Elric," he introduces himself, holding out his left hand, which the guy doesn't bat an eyelash at. This bumps Ed's estimation of him up yet another notch.

"Roy Mustang," he returns. Cool, now Ed has a name for him. He's also older than Ed had initially assumed while standing further away, definitely too old to be hanging around in an arcade. Ed wonders what he's doing here.

"So, when you said you wanted to go out on a date, when were you thinking of this taking place, hypothetically?" he asks, curious what Roy will say, if he's as eager as Ed is or just wants to exchange numbers for now or something. Ed's really hoping for the former.

"Well, I'm supposed to be at my goddaughter's birthday party over there," Roy points towards the back, where some parents are taking pictures of a bunch of squealing kids hyped up on too much sugar, "but I'm definitely free after that. We could grab some lunch together, if you wanted?"

Okay, option one it is. Awesome. Shamelessly, he turns to his waiting family, presuming from the looks on their faces that they already know what he's going to say next. "Well, that's me ditching our lunch plans. You two have fun."

His dad and brother both give him the same 'Ed, really?' look, but nod. "Okay, Brother," Al shrugs. "Are you going to meet back up with us after, or should we just expect you home sometime tomorrow?"

Ed is going to murder his little brother. His dad starts in place, as though this idea hadn't even occurred to him (which is also a lie. Ed is clearly surrounded by traitors). "Ah, I really don't think that you should-"

"Well, we should probably be leaving now," Ed says loudly. One look to the side shows Roy watching them interact with extreme fascination, and not a little amusement. Ed decides after a moment's consideration that this is okay because Roy's really hot and hasn't yet said no to Ed staying over for the night. "Wouldn't want Roy to miss his goddaughter's birthday party, after all." And with that said, Ed grabs Roy's elbow and steers him away from his ex-family.

"Nice to meet you, Roy Mustang!" Al calls from behind them. "Be safe, Brother!" Fucker just had to get one last dig in.

"I think he gets it from your mother," Ed hears their dad say quieter, but no less perfectly audible. "She fell for an older man, too."

Could his family possibly be any more embarrassing? Sadly, Ed knew that they could, and have been before, and maybe he wouldn't actually kill either of them since they'd dialed it back pretty well in front of Roy. Just maiming, then.

Roy laughs again beside him, derailing Ed's thoughts. "Are you sure you don't mind changing your plans?" he asks, which is a lot more polite and conscientious than the 'Your family's insane' that Ed was expecting to hear.

Ed waves the worry away. "It's fine," he assures. They come up to the edge of the party then, and Ed hangs back, wary of so many excited children in such a small space. He's glad to see that Roy looks mildly alarmed too. Shows the guy has common sense.

One of the parents clicking away with a camera sidles up to them, and says excitedly, "There you are, Roy! Should have known you'd meet someone even here. But you've been missing Elicia's party! Lucky for you I've got plenty of pictures that you can look over later."

Roy sighs from beside him, and Ed recognizes the signs of patient tolerance essential to a good friendship anywhere. "Maes," he introduces, "this is Ed Elric. My date for today. Ed, this is Maes Hughes, my best friend. Sadly, ignoring him doesn't make him go away. Believe me, I've tried."

"Nice to meet you," Ed grins.


	5. Pride

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated K+ for angst. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Pride **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: AU, 01 and 08 (Edward Elric and Izumi Curtis).

"I'm proud of my son," Izumi snarls when people see a wheelchair, not determined eyes.

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"I'm proud of my son," Izumi snarls, when people see a sullen boy trapped in a wheelchair and not his determined eyes.

"I'm proud of my son," Izumi states simply, when people see a comatose little boy lying on a bed, unmoving, and think nothing of his continued survival in spite of the odds.

_I'm proud of my son,_ Izumi thinks silently, as people see a tombstone lovingly cared for, and not the soul and precious life that was once a part of her.


	6. Silence

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated K+ for angst. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Silence **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: Baby Fic, 05 and 09 (Maes Hughes and Van Hohenheim).

"I bet he was even more adorable back then," Hughes mutters wistfully.

Hohenheim smiles faintly.

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"I bet he was even more adorable when he was a young child," Hughes mutters wistfully.

Hohenheim smiles faintly.

The boy in question is not so much a boy anymore, but still young and vibrant when awake. Currently, he is sprawled out fast asleep on the couch in front of them. His shirt is pushed halfway up his stomach, exposing that area to the chilly air. A cat has taken up residence there, though, and Hohenheim is sure that his son is not cold. His face is buried under a book, though thankfully his drool seems to have missed the pages, and his soft snores fill the room.

Hohenheim feels his heart swell up all over again as he surveys the miracle that is his eldest child sprawled out after another night of studying until daybreak.

"Actually," he confides, "not much seems to have changed."

Beside him, Hughes grins and laughs lightly. "Is that so? No, I'm not actually surprised. He always does try too hard at everything, doesn't he?"

Hohenheim nods, and then picks up a blanket off of the back of the couch and carefully folds it around his son, cat and all. Both seem undisturbed. He watches as Maes Hughes reaches down and lays his hand gently on top of Edward's forehead.

"You'll look after the two of them from now on?" the man asks him, and Hohenheim nods.

"They're my sons," he replies simply. It's all the truth he has to offer, but it seems to be enough.

Hughes nods. "Yes, they are." He looks fondly one more time at Edward's sleeping form, smiles gently, and then slowly fades from the room.

Hohenheim waits a moment for the sake of politeness and then leaves the room for his own bed, knowing that the specter of the man who he can never thank enough has at last departed.


	7. Sir Isaac is Right

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated T for angst and implied situations. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Sir Isaac is Right **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 10 and 4 find out they're related (Trisha Elric and Riza Hawkeye).

"Who was your father?" Trisha interrupts.

Riza blinks. "Bertolt Hawkeye," she responds curiously.

"…Oh my."

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They meet during Freshman Seminar, and band together immediately as the only two in their class who already know all of the material listed on the syllabus. They both suffer through the painful ice breakers the professor makes the class complete, which do nothing but ensure that none of them ever want to see any of their classmates ever again.

After that agonizing first lesson is over they pick up their bags and silently head over to a nearby coffee place, enjoying the quiet.

Trisha Elric had shown up to that class because that's what she does, but she can't say that she minds too much this time. Not when Riza is now sitting across from her at a small table, their knees brushing together and both of them smiling.

"I thought that Vato guy was never going to stop talking," she admits, as they're both finally starting to relax.

Riza grants her a warm smile that Trisha feels even more vividly than the coffee sliding down her throat. "I kicked him under the table," Riza comments, without a hint of shame.

Trisha pretends to be shocked for a moment, and then they both burst out laughing. Riza's fingers lightly brush the back of her hand when she reaches for a napkin, and the sensation is wonderful. She hadn't even known to want this and it's already the best thing that's ever happened to her.

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They've been dating for months when they finally discover the truth, and even then it's an off-hand remark that reveals everything. Personally, Trisha blames that seminar class and the professor who teaches it. He was the one who'd insisted they all introduce themselves using only their first names, insisting that it was more casual that way.

Trisha wonders now why she'd never thought to ask Riza for her full name before, but then, Riza hadn't asked her either. To Trisha, she is _Riza. _She knows how Riza likes her coffee, how awesome she plays during lacrosse games, knows how well she _kisses, _her lips trailing down Trisha's neck playfully.

What she hadn't known until just now is Riza's last name.

"-he was being so immature, too. 'You're quite right, Miss Hawkeye, of course. Don't worry, I'll retrieve it for you.' Serves him right for breaking his arm falling out of that tree."

Trisha feels her chest constrict and she gasps sharply.

"Of course, I blamed-"

"Who was your father?" Trisha interrupts.

Riza blinks. "Bertolt Hawkeye," she responds curiously.

"…Oh my."

"What is it?" Riza asks her. Her head is cocked a little to the side and her brow is furrowed. Trisha wants to kiss her but she doesn't think she's allowed to anymore. She wonders why she feels like crying.

"My last name's Elric," Trisha informs her. She looks closely at Riza's face for any sign of recognition, but there's nothing.

Trisha takes a deep breath and then continues. "It was my mother's maiden name, actually. She married someone else later, but she had me when she was really young." She doesn't want to drag this out any longer, can't, and just blurts it out. "When I asked, years ago, she told me my father's name was Bertolt Hawkeye."

Riza is blinking at her as though what she's saying doesn't make any sense, that she must be mistaken somehow. Trisha knows that she isn't. She clears her throat, but Riza still isn't saying anything. "He's a professor of alchemy, right? That's what my mom told me."

Trisha feels cold, and hugs herself to ward off the chill even though she knows it's coming from inside of her. After some more minutes spent in silence, Riza finally speaks.

"Was, yes."

It's Trisha's turn to blink, not quite understanding.

Perhaps sensing her confusion, Riza continues. "My father was a professor of alchemy. However, he was very sick with leukemia and died a few years ago."

She says this very plainly, as is Riza's way, and now it is Trisha's turn to be shocked. "He's dead," she whispers. It shouldn't matter to her, not at all. This man was nothing to her. She'd never seen him, never even spoken to him.

Still. Still…

Trisha finds herself crying quietly after all. Her vision is blurry with tears, and then she's wrapped up in warmth and the smell of Riza's shampoo is under her nose.

Silently, she lets herself cry for a little longer, but vows this will be the only time she cries over a man she didn't even know. Her mother is dead, too. She died in childbirth when Trisha was ten. Her father, the only one that really matters, raised her afterwards, both of them helping each other grieve and heal.

Riza doesn't tell her to hush, or that everything will be fine. She just holds her, lightly stroking her hair as Trisha lets a very old hurt inside of her finally bleed free.

When her tears are all spent, Trisha pulls back, remembering again that this isn't something she can have anymore. Even this has been taken away from her.

Except then Riza leans forward and kisses her on the lips, softly. Trisha blinks, still feeling the last of her tears clinging to her eyelashes. "We're sisters," she says, as though Riza has somehow missed this important fact.

Riza shrugs. "So we are," she agrees calmly. "I won't tell anyone." A pause. "Well, maybe I'll tell Mr. Mustang some day, but only to get him back for the salt incident."

Trisha laughs. She wonders if things can really be settled that easily, then decides that she doesn't care. They'll figure it out, together.


	8. Time

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated K+ for angst. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Time **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 2. Horror, 10 (Trisha Elric).

'I don't have enough time,' she despairs, looking at the blood on her palm.

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Trisha's life hasn't been one tragedy after the next. Yes, Hohenheim has left her to raise their sons, but he promised to come back home some day and she believes him. Whatever his past and his need for atonement, Trisha loves him. She'll wait for him, with their sons, and she'll smile when he returns to her.

And yes, she's sick. Trisha has been sick for years with dizzy spells and labored breathing. She forces herself not to focus on this. She's fine. She has Edward and Alphonse with her, and they would make any mother's heart full to bursting with pride.

Except one day she sits up in bed and starts coughing and she can't seem to make herself stop. When Trisha can finally catch a breath, her body is covered with sweat and she reaches over shakily to turn on the lamp. She knows what she'll find but she does it anyway, refuses to cower in the dark. Sure enough, her hand is flecked with light, pink foam.

_I don't have enough time,_ she despairs, looking down at the blood on her palm.

She wants to cry. Trisha promised Hohenheim that she'd wait for him. She has to wait, and she has to be here for their sons. Neither of them understands why their father left. Trisha can't abandon them too.

Yet, she's going to. She has no choice. The red painted across palm and her still-heavy breathing speaks the truth for her, even as she refuses to say it out loud.

_I'm sorry,_ she thinks, so sad. Not about dying, but about the family that she is leaving behind when they all need her so desperately. _Dear, I'm so sorry. I don't think I'll be able to keep my promise._

Still, Trisha forces herself to get up out of bed and start her day. It's just a little before dawn, and she knows her sons will be up soon. She doesn't have time to just lie around, especially not now. She has no time, really, not anymore.


	9. Unexpected Sense of Loss

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated K. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**Unexpected Sense of Loss **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 4. 2 and 8 are both bored in the ER (Alphonse Elric and Izumi Curtis).

"Are you s_ure _I can't visit my brother yet?" Al asks, Izumi looming behind him.

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Alphonse Elric had been politely waiting for over three hours now. He'd been attempting to keep himself occupied during that time, but the magazines spread out across the tables were embarrassingly old and the crying boy had finally fallen asleep on his mother's lap. Al was now officially bored.

And trying his best not to think too much about how his brother had just collapsed earlier, one minute walking down the stairs and then the next just unconscious. Al had barely managed to run up the stairs fast enough to catch him before he bashed his head against the railing.

He shifted a little now in the uncomfortable seat and looked beside him at his teacher, wondering how she could act so calm. She had one of those dismal-looking magazines in front of her face and had been sitting quietly beside Al ever since she'd driven them to the hospital.

When she suddenly threw the magazine down and stood up, he almost fell out of his chair in surprise. Al quickly leapt up, however, when she said, "Let's go see what's taking them so damn long," and followed her to the reception desk.

He saw the woman behind the counter look up in disinterest, which then quickly morphed into mild alarm. Al almost felt sorry for her. "Are you s_ure _I can't visit my brother yet?" he asked, Izumi Curtis looming menacingly behind him.

The woman backed her head away in fear, even though she was already protected from them by the thick glass partition. "Ah, what was your brother's name?"

Finally, Al was getting somewhere, he hoped. "Edward Elric," he informed the woman politely. "He was brought in unconscious over three hours ago," he added, not so patiently.

The woman typed the info into her computer, then looked up. Al already knew that he wasn't going to like what she said. "I'm sorry, but your brother's still being looked at by the attending physician."

Almost, almost Al demanded that she tell him what room his brother was in. Instead, he balled up his hands into fists and tamped down on a new surge of frustration and worry. It wasn't her fault that Ed was in the hospital.

He distantly heard his teacher thank the woman for her time, but Al had already turned away to walk back across the room and sit down again. He sat there and looked down at his hands. They were normal, flesh and blood, and in that moment he hated them. If Al was still a giant suit of armor, there was no way that woman would have stopped him from simply walking upstairs and finding his brother. He wouldn't have had to wait for his teacher to grow impatient in order to look sufficiently intimidating either.

…If Al hadn't wanted this human body back so much then Ed wouldn't have gone back through the Gate _again _in order to retrieve it.

That was what was bothering Al, he knew. What if whatever was wrong with Ed was something the Gate did to him while they were there? What if this was his, Al's, fault?

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked over into his teacher's all-too-knowing eyes. "Everything will be fine, Alphonse."

He nodded, but didn't know if he really believed her. If Ed wasn't okay, then would anything ever be fine again? _It's funny,_ he thought darkly, _the things you miss._

Al leaned his head back against the wall, and he waited.


	10. What Happens in the Dorms

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. That honor belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm making no profit off of this fic.

**AN: **Rated T for implied situations and language. This is from a meme where you write a story using fifteen words or less about the prompt in question. After I completed the prompt I decided to expand the scenario a bit.

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**What Happens in the Dorms… **by luvsanime02

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Prompt: 3 and 10 are assigned as roommates (Roy Mustang and Trisha Elric).

"I'll just- I'll hang a sock on the doorknob next time."

"Please do."

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The last thing Roy Mustang had honestly expected to see when he unlocked the door to his room that night was his quiet, studious roommate riding their history professor.

He blinked in surprise and not a little shock. Well. And to think he'd been scheduling his own liaisons in his partners' rooms, not wanting to scare her.

So much for that.

"Do you think you could close the door?" Professor Hohenheim asked mildly. Apparently, while Roy was lost in his own stupor, they'd noticed his arrival and had disengaged from each other. He was very grateful to see that they'd also covered up all the important bits with a comforter.

Now that he was recovering from his surprise, Roy began to find the situation amusing. Who would have ever guessed that shy and wholesome Trisha Elric would be fucking around with a professor?

"Actually," Roy said, "I believe I forgot that I have a very important philosophy paper due early tomorrow. I think I'll just head on over to the library for a couple of hours to type it up."

Trisha stared at him for a moment, and then smiled. "Thanks, Roy."

He shrugged. It wasn't any of his business what his roommate got up to in her free time. "I'll be leaving now," he announced, already turning around, but stopping when he managed to remember at the last second. Oh, yes.

"Perhaps we could work out a system, though? So that this doesn't happen again?" And he planned on taking full advantage of this system now that he knew he wouldn't traumatize his roommate for life.

"I'll just- I'll hang a sock on the doorknob next time." Now Trisha was blushing, and even Professor Hohenheim seemed a little sheepish, which made Roy feel better about the man. What Trisha was doing was her own business, but Roy would be damned if he sat back and watched her get hurt by the professor.

"Please do."

With a cheery wave over his shoulder that Roy heard Trisha laugh at, he finally left the room. That had definitely been the one college experience he hadn't thought he needed to worry about. Chuckling, Roy started walking towards the café to see who else was in there.

Showed what he knew.


End file.
